Friedrich Ludwig of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

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Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig and his tutor Baron Ulrich von Thun (1707–1788)

Friedrich Ludwig von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (born January 20, 1735 in Gotha ; † June 9, 1756 ibid) was a prince from the Saxon-Gotha-Altenburg branch of the Ernestine Wettins and hereditary prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg until his death .

Life

Friedrich Ludwig was the eldest son of Duke Friedrich III. von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg and his wife Luise Dorothea von Sachsen-Meiningen .

From 1744 the young Hereditary Prince went on a multi-year educational trip through Europe. From 1747 to 1750 he stayed in Paris. His protégé on site was the court master Baron Ulrich von Thun (1707–1788), who enabled him to contact important contemporaries. In the Paris salons he got to know the intellectual avant-garde of the French Enlightenment , such as Voltaire , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach and Denis Diderot . In Paris, von Thun hired the writer Abbé de Reynal as the Prince's teacher of history and philosophy, Friedrich Melchior Grimm was at times his reader and German teacher. The contacts made with Voltaire culminated a few years later in a three-week stay by Voltaire at the Gothaer Hof, where he was the guest of Duchess Luise Dorothea from April 15 to May 25, 1753 .

The Hereditary Prince, who was often ailing as a child, was attacked on May 26, 1756 by "sensitive gout pains" which were accompanied by fever. On June 9th “In the evening half past five”, the only 21-year-old Friedrich Ludwig died in the presence of his family at Friedenstein Castle . On June 16, he was buried in the royal crypt of the castle church, the funeral speech was given by the Gotha court preacher Johann Georg Brückner. On June 27th, another memorial sermon was held in the Margarethenkirche by the general superintendent of the duchy, Johann Adam Löw.

Friedrich Ludwig's younger brother Ernst became the Hereditary Prince of the house and later Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

literature

  • Johann Georg Brückner: eschewing speech at the high ducal funeral of the most noble Lord Hereditary Prince Friedrichs , which was held on June 16, 1756 , Gotha 1756.
  • Johann Adam Löw: Memorial Sermon. To the Most Serene Prince and Lord, Mr. Friederichen [...] Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg ... , Gotha 1756.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Born in Swedish Pomerania , Baron Ulrich von Thun was prepared for a diplomatic career in Strasbourg by Johann Daniel Schöpflin . After secret missions for Hesse-Darmstadt and Saxony-Gotha, he was again active in Paris from 1756 to 1788 as ministre plénipotentiaire Württemberg. Ducal Wirtemberg address book: to the year 1786: together with e. Annex d. freyen imperial knighthood in Swabia. Bürkhisch, 1786, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Digital Library Thuringia. P. 2 (PDF; 306 kB)
personal data
SURNAME Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Friedrich Ludwig von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1735–1756)
DATE OF BIRTH January 20, 1735
PLACE OF BIRTH Gotha
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 1756
Place of death Gotha